It’s one of the biggest musical events of the year and after an action-packed finale in Tel Aviv, Israel, last night, The Netherlands’ Duncan Laurence was crowned this year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner for his song ‘Arcade’.
Duncan had been the fan-favourite to win the competition and ultimately scored 492 points after the public vote. Italy finished second with 465 and Russia third with 369 points. “This is to dreaming big. This is to music first, always,” he said shortly after being announced this year’s winner.
This is The Netherlands’ first Eurovision win since 1975, The win means that next year’s competition will be held in the country – an honour any European country dreams of.
Madonna performed at last night’s grand-finale to a lukewarm response. She kicked off her set with a version of Like A Prayer, with backing dancers dressed as monks and went on to sing ‘Future’, her new single featuring the rapper Quavo. However, many claimed that her excessive use of autotune diluted the impact of her momentous performance.
The star was also criticised for her political stunt during her performance which showed her backing dancers displayed Israeli and Palestinian flags – a stint which was not an approved part of the act, organisers said. Eurovision said: “In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, two of Madonna’s dancers briefly displayed the Israeli and Palestinian flags on the back of their outfits. This element of the performance was not part of the rehearsals which had been cleared with the EBU and the host broadcaster, KAN. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna had been made aware of this.”
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